Arnold Schwarzenegger's Success Story

Today we want to tell you the success story of one of the most famous movie actors in the world, whose name is always associated with the Terminator of fantastic action movies. Of course, in this post we will talk about Arnold Schwarzenegger and how Arnie started his career in the 1960s as a simple Austrian guy who dreams of becoming a world-famous athlete.

Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947 in the small town of Tal Graz in Austria to 38-year-old police chief Gustav Schwarzenegger and his 23-year-old housewife wife Aurelia.

Dad, who was in the Nazi Party at one time, was harsh and rude, which is why little Arnie daily raked painful and often undeserved stars, longing to leave Austria and never see her again.

But there was also a positive side: his father dreamed of making him an athlete, and he did — from an early age Arnold played football, training if not strength, then certainly endurance.

From no less an early age, together with his brother Meinhardt, Arnie also worked as a farmhand on the site, replacing the "40 standard black burrowers". I didn't see a phone or a globe until I was 14, and I didn't know many ordinary household amenities. And the whole world was in the dark about what was waiting for it.

Impressed by what he saw at the World Weightlifting Championships of the Russian strongman Vlasov and against the will of his father, Arnold began to "swing" from the age of 15.

Moreover, he showed such fanaticism that when the gym in Graz accidentally turned out to be closed due to a weekend or holiday, young Arnie naturally sneaked in through the window and swung alone.

The guy also did not forget to eat hard with all sorts of aggressive things, so at the age of 17 he was no longer a skinny boy, but a mighty jock capable of lifting weight, which even an adult coach was afraid to come close to.

Then the graduation came in time. After graduating from high school, Arnie volunteered for the Austrian army. According to his confession, to eat and sleep. In the army, he was a tank driver, a mechanic-driver (tanks of the Western school, unlike the Soviet ones, are suitable for a person with a height of 188 cm).

It is noteworthy that Schwarzenegger was the only eighteen—year-old conscript who was immediately entrusted with a tank - apparently, the Austrian oak was not as simple as it might seem to all haters of "stupid jocks". However, Arnie himself admitted later, he was not an ideal soldier and once drowned his tank.

His service in the army, which lasted only one year — from 1965 to 1966, did not prevent him from serving a disciplinary arrest for unauthorized absences - he secretly ran off to participate in bodybuilding competitions "Mr. Europe" and was released. And, uh, Arnie won that contest. And all because, in combination with excellent army feeding, he also swung homemade barbells every day — and all this against the background of the standard, never easy service of a brave Austrian tanker. But willpower and perseverance helped Arnold overcome all difficulties.

Since then, this has been the case. As soon as a young talent was announced at some jock competition, all the judges gave him a standing ovation and handed him a prize. In 1967, he even became the youngest holder of the title "Mr. Universe". And all because, despite his tender age, Schwarzenegger had a stunningly massive musculature, plus he struck with an exceptionally successful physique (genetics helped). He competed on equal terms with athletes who were six to eight years older than him, and defeated them.

A year later, in 1968, after becoming a two-time "Mr. Universe" at a competition in London, Arnold ascended to heaven. Of course, he was the number one bodybuilder on this side of the ocean! However, the main center of bodybuilding and the main rivals were found on the other side of the Atlantic. There lived a certain Joe Wader, the founding father of all modern bodybuilding. Through his representative in London, Ludwig Schustrich, he offered the young Schwarzenegger a move to the United States and a one-year contract. However, Arnie, figuring that a tit in his hands is much better than a cockroach in the pantry, refused the contract. For a year, Wader unsuccessfully tried to drag Arnold to the United States.

And at this time, the champion lived in Munich and led a truly champion lifestyle: he fought, drank and generally lived a pure and holy life. According to Arnold's friends at the time, he was narcissistic and cocky, like a turkey. Not a single fight in nightclubs was complete without his participation. It is quite reasonable that pretty serious problems with the police soon began. And the further, the more serious.

And finally, one glorious evening, Arnie found himself in Schustrich's room with a sports bag in his hands and declared that it was highly desirable for him to leave Germany as soon as possible and he was ready to accept Wader's offer, if it was still valid. Shustrich used all his influential connections enough to get him an American visa in one day. And already at the end of September 1968, Arnold Gustav Schwarzenegger, born in 1947, an Austrian, non-partisan, set foot on the ground of the cradle of democracy.

The place was chosen wisely — sunny and carefree California, and there our "iron" Arnie became "golden" even before his acting fees grew to six or seven zeros. Unlike most other bodybuilders who achieved sports fame, but never managed to turn it into money, Schwarzenegger had a powerful business acumen and a keen sense of profit. As soon as he arrived in the USA, he and his jock friend Franco Columbo engaged in nothing more than the supply of bricks. Then there was another accident — just one of those that led him to wealth and fame — in 1971 Los Angeles was seriously damaged by an earthquake. Despite the reaction of residents, bricks were still urgently needed to restore the city, which Arnold began to sell in hard-to-see quantities.

But Arnie wasn't going to spend his whole life building materials. At the same time, he actively swung in American gyms, invariably impressing with his article and heroic strength. Soon the tall Austrian athlete was noticed, and his career went uphill. He became well—known enough in the USA as a bodybuilder to successfully sell bodybuilding accessories all over the country - including videotapes with courses like "How to become an Apollo in one year". Having saved a certain amount of money on bricks and vidos, Schwartz invested it in the delivery of goods by mail. The loot was getting bigger and bigger. Part of the profits from mail marketing and the funds won at competitions were invested by Schwarzenegger in real estate. In addition, on the advice of Wader, he began to invest in various antique things. Even before the thirtieth anniversary (and long before the success in the cinema) Arnie became a millionaire.

Since 1970, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had already made a name for himself in bodybuilding, began acting in films, as did many of his idols, such as Steve Reeves and Reg Park. He has to face difficulties: a difficult surname to pronounce, a foreign accent and "excessively large" muscles.

But nevertheless, less than a year after his arrival, honored producer Aubrey Weisberg, who worked at a small film studio Filmpartners, became interested in him — he just had a script about the mythical strongman Hercules, who found himself in a modern metropolis, and Aubrey thought that the young Schwarzenegger was the best fit. And as for the accent — Hercules is generally laconic…

Arnold agreed to this role after calling his friend Reg Park, who himself played Hercules in the movie — he immediately advised Arnie to "agree without talking." When Arnold's agent negotiated with the studio, he said that his client "has experience working on stage," while omitting that Arnold posed on stage at bodybuilding contests, and did not play Hamlet… After auditioning, the casting director was horrified by the accent of the young strongman — he could hardly be understood. But the mighty physique did its job, and Arnold was still taken into the picture, deciding to do voice acting with the help of another actor who speaks English normally (and replace the surname Schwarzenegger with Strong). Many years later, Arnie voiced Hercules with his own voice and the picture was republished.

The career of a bodybuilder also did not develop immediately. At first, he behaved very arrogant and arrogant, introducing himself, he certainly reported that he was a two-time "Mr. Universe". However, soon the arrogance was taken off him — he confidently lost his first competition in the USA to Frank Zane, who was 20 kg lighter. Anyone else would have burst into tears, but iron Arnie soberly analyzed the reasons for his defeat and the next year he entered the "Mr. Olympia" in excellent shape. But to his misfortune, Sergio Oliva, an icon of American bodybuilding, a Storm Cliff and the Most Prominent Legs in the world participated in the competition. The proud Arnold lost again. And being beside himself with rage and resentment, he publicly swore that he would never be defeated by anyone again. He kept his oath.

One victory followed another. Schwarzenegger began collecting medals from the most prestigious competitions, becoming a real bodybuilding icon: at the top of his career was a seven-time title "Mr. Olympia".

Having achieved all the titles there were in bodybuilding, in 1980 Schwarzenegger finally breaks up with sports, and now he holds bodybuilding competitions himself, being both their organizer and sponsor — Arnold Classic. The prizes are very substantial — $100,000, a Hummer car and a gold Rolex watch.

But the cinema, however, did not submit for a long time: all the seventies Arnie starred in films in parallel with the competitions, but there was still no recognition. Critics had quite a strong opinion about the acting talent of this constrained and tongue-tied giant, voiced in a mild version as a "tree", the damned accent pursued relentlessly (Arnie still hasn't got rid of it until the end). So he was not invited to the cinema for a long time.

Nevertheless, the second picture in Schwarzenegger's filmography appears after seven long years, when his famous victorious series of five titles "Mr. Olympia" was already behind him, and he himself became rich and famous.

"Stay Hungry" (1976) — a drama that tells the story of a bodybuilder Joe Santo, who got in the way of a criminal syndicate illegally buying up real estate in the area. A little naive, but kind and sincere film shows a young Jeff Bridges and Arnold, who does not blow anyone's brains out and does not smear on the wall, but works out in the gym and for the soul ... plays the violin. This time the critics were more supportive — no one remembered about the oaks and other green spaces, but, on the contrary, it was noted that the bodybuilder showed himself as a real actor and is clearly capable of a lot. In the 77th Arnold receives the prestigious Golden Globe Award for this role, for some reason in the nomination "Best Debut". Apparently, the critics did not consider "Hercules" to be a film at all. Alas, that "Globe" remained the only award of this level in Arnold's entire career.

In the late seventies , Arnold received a bachelor's degree in economics in University of Wisconsin. He has always sought to develop not only the body, but also the mind.

About six months after moving to the United States, Arnold met a young schoolteacher, Barbara Baker, and lived with her for five years. Arnold himself talks about the reason for their separation:

Arnold cheated on her right and left. In 2006, Baker released a book of memoirs about her life with Arnold, calling it without fuss: "In the shadow of an Austrian oak." Against expectations, Arnold did not protest and even... wrote a preface to this book!

In '77, Arnold began dating Sue Moray, who worked as a hairdresser, and around the same time began his relationship with journalist Maria Shriver (niece of John Kennedy), whom he met at a tennis tournament named after Robert Kennedy.

For about a year, he calmly dated them at the same time, until Moray finally broke up with him. Moreover: at the same time, Arnold, according to rumors, was also having an affair with Bridget Nielsen! But the main woman in his life turned out to be Maria in the end (although he matured before marriage for as many as nine years). They got married in 1986.

The couple has four children: daughters Katerina and Kristina and sons Patrick and Christopher.

Alas, but in 2011, Maria, after a quarter of a century of living together, filed for divorce and left their huge house in Brentwood just a couple of weeks after the silver wedding ... The reasons are her husband's infidelity and his illegitimate child.

Arnold himself is to blame, or rather, his adultery. A sensational fact has been revealed: it turns out that Arnie has an illegitimate son Joseph, the same age as Christopher, born to a maid who worked in the Schwarzenegger couple's mansion in the second half of the nineties! Moreover, this boy was dear to Arnold, he saw him and always found an opportunity to maintain a relationship. Oddly enough, the guy himself had no idea before the scandal that he was Schwarzenegger's son, and when he found out, he was shocked.

The divorce process between Schwarzenegger and Shriver lasted almost 10 years. Everything was finalized only at the end of December 2021.

TMZ cites two reasons why the divorce process between Schwarzenegger and Shriver lasted for almost 10 years.

The first is the "lack of motivation" on both sides. The media suggest that perhaps the couple was dragging their feet with the divorce, because there were still feelings between Maria and Arnold. The actor has repeatedly told the press that he continues to love Maria and hopes for the resumption of relations.

The second reason is the "settlement of property relations". According to The Blast, the couple's net worth could be more than $ 400 million. Given the fact that Maria and Arnold did not enter into a prenuptial agreement, this amount should have been divided in half during the divorce, the publication suggests. In addition, over the years of married life, Maria and Arnold have acquired a large amount of real estate and a profitable business, which are also "not easy to divide."

It was only in 1982 that Arnold achieved real success in cinema. The first films starring Schwarzenegger in a series of all the blockbusters that made the actor a superstar are the famous adaptations of the novels of writer Robert Irwin Howard about the Hyborian Era, written in the fantasy genre back in the thirties. These stories told about a powerful and dexterous barbarian warrior named Conan, who could single-handedly deal with hundreds of enemies and crush all kinds of evil spirits.

The Universal Pictures film company allocated an impressive budget of $ 20 million by the standards of the early eighties, and Arnold instantly turned out to be among the favorites for the role of Conan (by the way, Steven Spielberg recommended him to the producers, who has a phenomenal flair for successful images).

And this was the long-awaited success that Arnie dreamed of: "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) became a hit overnight, striking the audience to the core with its savage romance, confident staging, brutality and the brilliant soundtrack of Poledouris. An interesting fact: Schwarzenegger was obliged to reduce the size of muscle mass — his muscles were so large that the directors of the sword fencing scenes could not get the right movements from him… He lost weight to a hundred kilograms (immediately after filming, gaining all 120). Critics did not fail to break out with snide articles about the actor's performance, "not much better than the game of his horse," and it was for "Barbarian" that Arnold received his first nomination for "Golden Raspberry" in the category "Worst Actor". Later he will be nominated more than once…

In an effort to forge iron while it was hot, the sequel "Conan the Destroyer" (1984) was immediately removed.

But Richard Fleischer, who took the place of the talented John Milius in the director's chair, could not compare with his predecessor, so the rather sluggish picture did not repeat the triumph of "The Barbarian".

But there was a film ahead that would take Schwarzenegger to the sky-high heights at once, whose popularity, already rather big after the role of Conan, would grow at times.

"Terminator" (1984) — a milestone in the history of fantasy action movies, dividing the genre into "before" and "after", as it happened with fiction with the arrival of Lucas' "Star Wars". It is impossible to say anything new about James Cameron's film - everything has already been said with numerous variations and the most colorful epithets. Now a real masterpiece appeared in Arnold's filmography, and his type instantly turned out to be super-demanded, so he could now choose from several scenarios at once.

It seems that Schwarzenegger himself liked the story about the barbarian, since the author of "Conan the Destroyer" Fleischer got him into a new film based on the Hyboria universe.

At first, the project was considered as the third series of the story about Conan, but then they decided to make the story completely original and named the character Kalidor (it's almost impossible to distinguish him from Conan.) Alas, the idea ended in failure — despite the familiar aesthetics and stunning Bridget Nielsen, "Red Sonya" (1985) did not interest almost anyone, having ingloriously sunk into oblivion. Perhaps, as part of the trilogy, the picture would have looked more advantageous, or maybe it was the fault of the lack of skill of the director, but the fantasy-style project ended rather ingloriously.

But there were still enough types worthy of Schwarzenegger in the world! The eerily straightforward "Commando" (1985), which became the best film directed by Mark Lester, about a special forces soldier taking revenge on the villains who kidnapped his daughter, gave the world John Matrix, who undoubtedly stood on a par with other immortal screen images of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The picture has become a kind of apotheosis of brutality — on average, there is one murder per minute of screen time (more than 80 dead). Hung with an impressive arsenal, Arnold in camouflage and with a smeared frown on his face became a kind of teenage icon, a kind of role model — however, in this hypostasis he will perform more than once.

In the wake of the popularity of primitive fighters, the film "Without Compromises" (1986) was released, but this is the same work that can rightfully be considered a pass—through for an actor - a deliberately simple, obviously low-budget and non-representative action with an expressionless hero and a standard "one against all" scheme — a kind of "Commando" without style and charisma. The viewer ignored him.

But the next project became a real hit — it was a fantastic action movie "Predator" (1987) about an alien bounty hunter who stumbled upon a worthy opponent on Earth in the person of a special forces soldier named Dutch, and naturally expired after a series of luxurious battle scenes.

Director John McTiernan (who in a year will shoot the epochal "Die Hard" with Bruce Willis) and special effects master Stan Winston, recognized as the best in his craft, gave out a spectacle that struck the imagination of the audience and made the film a cult. The terrifying Predator was partially invented by James Cameron — it was according to his sketch that Winston made the famous sliding jaw of the monster.

"The Running Man" (1987) is a film about a dystopian future, in which scary reality shows are held with the participation of people who are being tried to kill in front of television cameras, and those are forced to save their lives by any means. Schwarzenegger played the role of policeman Ben Richards, who not only defeated all rivals in the maze of death, but also dealt with the author of the terrible game himself. The film brought much less than expected, but still it was not a failure and contained a lot of advantages — dynamic and fascinating, it was shot based on the work of the famous Stephen King — somewhat, however, secondary in its plot (maybe that's why King wrote it under a pseudonym).

When Arnold got a call from McTiernan, who shot him in Predator, and offered to play the main role in an action movie about a lone cop who fights European terrorists in a captured skyscraper, Schwarzenegger refused without much hesitation. McTiernan had to invite a completely different actor to Die Hard... well, Schwarzenegger chose a script that featured "Mother Russia".

The film "Red Heat" was released in 1988, and James Belushi plays with Arnold in it. Here Arnie portrays not just anyone, but... a Soviet policeman, a fiery communist who pursues a Soviet bandit on the territory of the United States. The film cannot but cause a smile with its naivety in the depiction of Soviet realities by Americans, and those few phrases that "Captain Ivan Danko" uttered in Russian became an occasion for sincere fun for millions of our compatriots for many years to come. "Turak!" "Khulygani!" "Capitalism!.." Pearls were falling from the screen.

By that time, Arnold was ripe to dilute a series of brutal images with a cheerful and soulful comedy "Gemini" (1988) with Danny DeVito.

The lovable and naive Julius Benedict revealed to the world a completely different Schwarzenegger: Schwarzenegger Who Smiles. This image added to the already considerable army of fans of the actor also those who can not stand violence, and even skeptics admitted that Arnold is much more complicated than it may seem at first glance. The film was a big box office success.

The film "Remember Everything", which appeared in 1990, became an absolutely brilliant achievement not only in the field of special effects (for which he received an Oscar), but also in terms of dynamism and entertainment.

Inspired to genius, containing a number of absolutely outstanding components, he consolidated the position in Hollywood of the Dutch director Paul Verhoeven (who took off a year earlier thanks to the brilliant "Robocop") and added another successful picture to Schwarzenegger's filmography. A quarter of a billion box office receipts! And one of the best adaptations of the cult writer Philip K. Dick, which is put on a par with another brilliant picture based on his work — "Blade Runner" by Ridley Scott.

Another departure from the brutal image — albeit partial. In the film "Kindergarten Policeman" (1990), Schwarzenegger appears in the image of ... a babysitter for kids.

Which, of course, could not but affect his popularity with the most sentimental part of the audience — Arnie fell in love with everyone! The author of "Gemini" Reitman again made a wonderful movie, in which, however, Arnold clearly lacked a partner, like De Vito…

It seemed that Arnold was at the peak of fame and there was nothing more to be desired. And then he takes part in the film, which is recognized by most movie lovers as one of the best fantastic action films in history and the best film of the actor's entire career. It was the great "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991) by James Cameron, who finally decided to remove the continuation of the original 1984 tape.

Having snatched four Oscars from six nominations and become a revolution in the field of special effects, Terminator 2 will forever remain a real gem among all the action films shot in the history of cinema. It is difficult to find another film so interesting and exciting, and even so stylistically perfect, with all the desire (the young audience took the picture with special delight).

More than five hundred million collected by the picture at the global box office speak for themselves — it seems that there is not a single person left in the entire civilized world who has not seen this brilliant picture ... Arnold's popularity has skyrocketed, reaching its apogee. He did not have more films of this level — even despite the indisputable luck.

In 1991, Arnold, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Sylvester Stallone founded the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain. However, this enterprise unexpectedly turned out to be unprofitable, went bankrupt several times, the share price fell 32 times, so in 2000 the prudent Arnie got out of this dubious business.

Schwarzenegger's further career in cinema can be seen as a kind of natural downward movement — which is quite expected, given the height to which he managed to climb, collaborating with Cameron.

Arnold's old acquaintance from the film Predator, John McTiernan, suggested that he make a film in which cliches from pictures involving action heroes would be played out — but not in a parody, but in a deeper and more dramatic style. The idea seemed successful to Schwarzenegger, and in 1993, The Last Movie Hero appeared on the screens, in which Arnold appears as a kind of collective image, trying to rethink his own meaning and almost the meaning of life. The film was clearly much deeper than it seemed at first glance, but the general audience preferred not to delve into such subtleties, so that the film did not even pay off in the States, and did not shine with success at the global box office. And then there's the annoying nomination for the Golden Raspberry... The filmography replenishment was not very successful.

Perhaps the last truly powerful Schwarzenegger film can be considered "True Lies" (1994), shot by Cameron - truly, all the projects of this director are simply knocked off their feet.

It turned out to be a downright example of spectacular action, despite the fact that it was a remake of the recent French "Total Surveillance". Jamie Lee Curtis also added pepper, which is downright gorgeous here. Almost four hundred million fees meant a complete and unconditional success, although the film was still far from the epochal "Doomsday".

Ivan Reitman is again shooting a comedy with Schwarzenegger — and even with Danny DeVito, just like in the good old days. This time, the director was not in earnest: the symbol of masculinity and a mountain of muscles in the film "Junior" (1994) appears in the role of ... the future mother!

The scientist who got pregnant as a result of the experiment, performed by Arnold, amusingly demonstrates the manners of a pregnant woman and makes fun of all the cliches that are inextricably linked with his image. The bold move has fully justified itself — it seems that the combination of Schwarzenegger, De Vito and Reitman means guaranteed success.

But since the mid-90s, an obvious decline in his career begins, which was sadly "supplemented" by health problems.

"Eraser" (1996), an action movie so straightforward that it makes no sense to look for even a hint of irony. Everything is heavy and harsh — fancy special effects, luxurious stunts, fights and one Schwarzenegger against hundreds of enemies with firearms, stacking the foes in stacks throughout the picture. Critics leveled the "Eraser" to the ground, Arnold's fans were quite happy — at least the hundred million budget returned with a vengeance. But it wasn't the same anymore…

Without any break after the "Eraser" Arnold takes up a new project — the comedy "A Gift for Christmas" (1996), in which he plays the role of a loving father, ready for anything, just to find at least one store in the pre-holiday turmoil, in which there is still a toy that his son dreams of. On the set, Arnold felt an unusual malaise several times, filming was postponed several times due to heart pains that the actor periodically felt. At the same time, he asked everyone not to spread the fact that he was getting sick… The lack of rest between filming cost Arnold dearly — one evening he was taken away by an ambulance.

Heart problems required surgery — and so, in 1997, Schwarzenegger was replaced with an artificial heart valve that was defective from birth. He still did not want to believe that his indestructible health was failing him — on the very first day after the operation, when the patient was prescribed the strictest bed rest, Arnold voluntarily left the hospital ward, found a bicycle in the courtyard of the clinic and went on a short trip through the park. According to rumors, he almost died that day: the stitches parted, an immediate re-operation was needed. Since that time, he realized that the time of heavy loads and grueling workouts was forever in the past. It was just before the anniversary — Schwarzenegger turned 50 years old.

After recovering from surgery, Schwarzenegger takes part in one of his most dubious projects — Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin (1997), although it brought an impressive 250 million, was recognized by film critics as one of the "most nightmarish films" of all time and received a monstrous eleven (!!!) nominations for the Golden Raspberry anti-award (although he won only one). The bald-shaven Schwarzenegger, who played the villainous Mr. Freeze, received $ 25 million for his work, but they were not worth participating in this garish farce. It is impossible to imagine a more tasteless picture ... The nomination for "Golden Raspberry" in the category "Worst Supporting Actor" was more than natural.

"The End of the World" (1999) by Peter Hyams, although it was much more stylish than Schumacher's creation, but still turned out to be a rather ordinary mystical thriller, beating medieval myths on the eve of the new millennium. The two hundred million box office is rather a tribute to Schwarzenegger's fans, of whom there are millions around the world… They just couldn't miss a new movie featuring their idol, even though this movie was essentially nothing special. Schwarzenegger did not shine with the game — for which he was nominated for another "Golden Raspberry".

Alas, Arnold's fans didn't have enough for more: "The Sixth Day" (2000), which tells about the world of the future, in which people are beginning to be threatened by their cloned copies, in the States generally failed with a bang, and after the rental in the world barely returned the costs. Critics this time took a ride on Arnie like never before — he was nominated for as many as three "Golden Raspberries": "Worst Actor", "Worst Acting Duo" (with his clone) and "Worst Supporting Actor" (actually a clone). Yeah. Schwarzenegger is seriously starting to think about ending his acting career: it is better to leave "undefeated" while his great victories are still fresh in people's memory than to slide into the "B" category (where many famous actors in the past thundered), again and again taking part in failed projects and in the end being left without any offers for filming at all.

The next film, the straightforward action movie "Compensation for Damage" (2001) about a firefighter who loses his family during a terrorist attack and independently finds and destroys the culprits, only confirmed Arnold's fears.

Again a failure, again completely destroying reviews — there was something to get depressed about. The only Arnold film that didn't even return the costs and became unprofitable! This is despite the fact that in fact he was not even very bad — just too ordinary. Well, at least the "Raspberries" passed by.

After filming, Arnold had an accident — he fell off his Harley (Arnold loves these motorcycles). The result is six broken ribs and a week of bed rest. Along the way, an interesting fact turned out: the driver's license for driving a motorcycle, obtained by Arnold back in Austria, is invalid in the USA! The actor had no idea about it, for many years riding virtually without a license, and immediately got a "normal" license after leaving the hospital.

A series of disappointments, according to Arnold, had to be interrupted by a powerful blockbuster that was supposed to "shoot", hitting the whole world in the heart. Just at this time, the producers of the young C-2 Pictures film company turned to James Cameron with a request to direct the third part of The Terminator — they promised a two-hundred-million budget, Schwarzenegger's participation and a full carte blanche. It is possible that if Cameron had taken up the case, the world would have seen something amazing and epoch-making. But this did not happen — Cameron refused with the words: "I have nothing more to say on this topic."

Then Jonathan Mostow took over the production, who by that time had shot the wonderful thriller "Accident" (1997) with Kurt Russell and the Oscar-winning military drama about submariners "U-571" (2000). In general, it was quite possible to expect something curious… But Mostow ruined everything. Truly, some ideas should not be touched by anyone except their authors. "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" (2003) was not at all a continuation of Cameron's legendary dilogy - it was something completely alien in spirit, chaotic and sometimes strange. How unlike the ingenious harmony of James' creations! The whole world went to the big name "Terminator" and Schwarzenegger — and the whole world sighed with disappointment.

In show business, Arnold has achieved everything that could be dreamed of. It's time to conquer a new peak. The 56-year-old Schwarzenegger decided to retire from cinema and devote himself to politics.

Back in 1990, George Bush appointed Schwarzenegger head of the Presidential Council for Sports and Health, and Arnold himself strongly supported the politician and generally began to take quite an active part in public life. It was from the beginning of the nineties that the actor began to gain real political weight, keenly interested in the life of the people and the possibilities to solve universal problems (although in the mid-80s he took an active part in anti-drug propaganda under the patronage of Reagan). He became "his man" in the elite of the United States, a good acquaintance of the largest people in business and politics of the States.

In the late 90s, during an interview with Talk magazine, he mentioned that he had repeatedly thought about ... taking part in the presidential elections. These words of his, of course, became the subject of an exercise in wit for everyone, but time has shown that Iron Arnie should not be underestimated. After all, the movie actor Reagan became the head of state! Why not do it to another movie star? Looking ahead, it must be said that US laws prohibit people born outside of America from being elected to the presidency. The pure-blooded Austrian Schwarzenegger clearly does not shine here…

Since the early 2000s, rumors have been spreading in the press about Arnold's intention to run for governor of California. He denied it! He even once mentioned that "it's all nonsense. I'm in the middle of my career, I'm an actor, why would I suddenly jump to something else?". Later it became clear that he was very cunning. Because on the most popular "Jay Leno Show" in 2003, right after filming the third "Terminator", Arnie publicly announced his candidacy for governor of California! This news caused a shock, and then — a huge inspiration. "Terminator for governor!" — that was the slogan of all Arnold's fans all over the state. The election race began with a huge interest in what is happening throughout the country.

Arnold's election campaign was shamelessly based on his film career — the names of the most famous films and quotes from them were constantly used, so that Schwarzenegger's competitors reproached him (and in many ways rightly) for unfair play — after all, they did not have such universal popularity in cinema and sports on their side! "What does politics have to do with it?" — they asked. But Arnold did not blow his nose, and during the elections in October 2003, he calmly received 1.3 million votes, confidently defeating the other candidates for office and generating the biggest sensation of those days. A new huge victory on the path of life — Arnold Schwarzenegger took the post of governor of the very California in which he began his journey as a penniless European immigrant.

But we must admit that Arnold's third career was not as successful as the previous two — if he was a unique athlete and actor, then he was a rather ordinary politician. But he was in office for seven years and was re-elected, and that means something! Since 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger has vacated the governor's chair after the expiration of his term of office (it is forbidden to be elected for the third time), saying that "he has had enough."

While still governor, Arnold appeared in a small role in the film of his friend Sylvester Stallone "The Expendables" (2010).

And in 2012 he starred in the sequel "The Expendables-2".

But Arnie's return to cinema is considered to be the 2013 film directed by Ji-won Kim "The Return of the Hero", where he plays the sheriff of a border town.

Also in 2013, the film directed by Mikael Hofstrom "Escape Plan" was released, where Arnold played in tandem with Sylvester Stallone.

According to Stallone and Schwarzenegger themselves, the idea of such a picture appeared to them already in the mid-80s, and several trial scripts were even written. But at first it was impossible to synchronize the shooting schedules, and then Schwarzenegger went into politics — the project was postponed until better times.

Earlier this year, another action movie was released. "Sabotage" from director David Ayer, where Schwarzenegger plays a policeman and he again has to fight the drug mafia.

In August 2013, Arnold took part in the filming of the action movie "The Expendables-3", where many famous actors played, such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas, Dolph Lundgren and others.

In April 2014, Iron Arnie began filming the fantastic action movie "Terminator: The Origin". Arnold again performed the famous role of the Terminator T-800. The film was directed by Alan Taylor. The film is scheduled for release in 2015.

Arnold is not going to retire. And although he is already at a rather advanced age, he still leads an active lifestyle, trains in the gym, runs in the morning and constantly assures everyone that he is full of energy. So there is no doubt that he will declare himself again, and soon enough.